Daniel Wright Jr. experienced a breakthrough in his mental health thanks to a doodle he made that later turned into a tattoo business offering free ink for veterans. Wright, a Purple Heart recipient and a retired U.
S. Army Staff Sergeant, received in-patient treatment in 2013 for post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. "I wasn't participating with them because I didn't trust them," Wright tells TODAY.
com of his care team. He eventually decided to start doodling during sessions to pass the time. "Next thing you know, they were like the meeting is over.
And I'm like, 'OK, that's crazy. It went by so fast.' And they were like, 'Today was a great day for you.
You were talking. You were expressing yourself.' I found out the whole time I was drawing, I was talking and engaging with the people," Wright recalls.
After he completed his in-patient care, Wright says he went to get a tattoo. He had a good experience with the artist, who was also a friend who encouraged him to become a tattoo artist. "Maybe I can do this," Wright remembers thinking to himself.
"I knew (that) I knew how to draw. I've been drawing since I was probably 2 years old. I bought a little kit.
Never turned around." Wright has more than 100 tattoos himself and has given out thousands to people across the country to advance his mission of bringing mental wellness through tattoos. His business, Marzmade Mobile Tattoo Studio, is based in New Jersey.
He has a parlor in his home and a converted bus he uses to bring .